Patel Rap

Patel, 29, served a legal notice to her parents, Amit and Asha Patel, on charges of embezzling her money and allegedly making her stay in a dilapidated house in Mumbai’s posh suburb, Bandra.

It must’ve been a difficult call to make considering how proud Ms Patel was of her family status. She’d gathered a reputation in Bollywood of being a snob. If an actor snapped a role she wanted, Patel’s reaction was always consistent. With her nose up in the air, she would flash her family card. Her standard reply: I-come-from-a-certain-background-I-don’t need-to-do-all-this-cheap-stuff.

Since she landed in the industry, Patel has been flaunting her family name. Her much publicised war of words with Kareena Kapoor would always become a war of families, with Patel insisting that her sanskar didn’t allow her to degrade herself and comment on Kapoor. That she always did, is another matter.

Patel’s life has all the ingredients of a soap opera. She grew up in luxury—her grandfather, Rajani Patel was a renowned barrister and a veteran Congressman. Her wealthy father, Amit, manufactures magnetic tapes. Patel is a self-confessed ‘gold medallist’ in economics from Tufts University, Boston, and has also done a seven-week course in International Relations from Annecy, France. She is proud of her economic DNA and is never tired of reminding the world about it. Her role model is Amartya Sen. Good friend and Humraaz co-star Akshaye Khanna, comes a close second.

Patel doesn’t give a fig about critics. And she doesn’t wait for praise, she invents it. If co-star Hrithik Roshan walked away with all the praise, success, awards and fans in Kaho…Na Pyar Hai, Ms Patel declared that it took two to give a hit. ‘‘Kaho…Na Pyaar Hai is as much my film as Hrithik’s’’ was the famous quote. She said something similar when Gadar stuck gold at the box office. So what if her simpering virgin act and heaving crying spells in the film were panned by every critic. It was a hit, right?

BUT soon things started going wrong. A string of flops like Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar, Kranti, Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage and Yeh Hai Jalwa followed.

Her personal life also raised eyebrows because of her involvement with director Vikram Bhatt (of Raaz and Ghulam fame). Initially, Bhatt was the golden boy of the family because he gave Amisha’s brother, Ashmit, a break in Inteha. He was a frequent diner at The Fireplace, the eating joint in Bandra owned by the actor’s father.

Things soured when Patel and Bhatt became serious about each other. The family doesn’t approve of their daughter’s relationship with Bhatt, who is a divorcee with a 10-year-old daughter. They also think that she has taken the legal step under his ‘guidance’.

Patel is vehement at the very suggestion. ‘‘Vikram Bhatt should not be made the scapegoat. He has nothing to do with it. Anyone who is making him an issue is being very unintelligent.’’

The actor’s mother Asha Patel is visibly hurt with her daughter’s stance: ‘‘Let her have her own way. We are very hurt and have nothing to say.’’ Incidentally, Asha Patel is playing Amisha’s screen mother in Suneel Darshan’s forthcoming film, Mere Jeevan Saathi. Of course, they signed the film in the good old days. Says Darshan, ‘‘We shot some crucial scenes when the tension was ongoing between the mother-daughter but both were very dignified. They did their job and gave me no reason to complain.’’

Among her films, Patel is relying heavily on the Aamir Khan starrer The Rising. But with Rani Mukherji also in the cast, it’s to be seen how Patel’s role shapes up. But if there is one film that will not give her any such cause for worry, it is Vikram Bhatt’s Elaan. He’s sure to do justice to her.